This invention relates to new and useful improvements in sharpening devices specifically designed for use with compass leads but of course it will be appreciated that it can be used to sharpen or point pencil leads as well.
Conventionally, compass leads are sharpened upon a flat stick covered with an abrasive surface whereupon the black lead residue or dust spills from the strip onto the hands of the use, onto the equipment and often onto the drawing on the table or desk adjacent the user.
Although cone shaped sharpeners are known, when used for compass leads particularly, they are usually held substantially horizontally where once again the lead residue is easily spilled from the sharpener during use.
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a fixed cone shaped sharpener held in a container and having a retainer ring around the upper end thereof which retains the lead dust or residue as it is being formed. When the sharpener is then placed in the upright storage position, this residue slides down the sharpening cup and into the base where it may be deflected outwardly clear of the base so that it cannot spill when the sharpener is next used.
One aspect of the invention is to provide a device for sharpening compass leads and the like as per claim 1. Another advantage is that when the sharpener is held in the substantially horizontal position for use in sharpening a pencil or compass lead, any residue existing in the container is trapped between the outside of the cone and the retainer ring holding the cone in position within the container.
A still further advantage of the invention is to provide a device of the character herewithin described which is simple in construction, economically manufactured and otherwise well suited to the purpose for which it is designed.